Who did you see live in the 80s? How good were they?

[BettyUnderswoob]

Just reminiscing and getting a bit nostalgic today! I was a teenager in the 80s, and had the best time. Was recalling some of the gigs I went to. Who did you see, and were they good live?

I saw, amongst others:

Bruce Springsteen ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (6 out of 5! wasn't even a fan before!)
U2 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Cure ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Ramones ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Smiths ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Alice Cooper ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Siouxsie and the Banshees ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Iggy Pop ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Tom Waits ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Iggy Pop ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Tom Waits ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Simply Red ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Didn't like them, went to keep friend company... good show!)
The Pogues ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Mission⭐⭐⭐
The Cult ⭐⭐

There must be others I've forgotten!

What were your good (or bad) gigs?

Queuing at 5am in December for Springsteen or Genesis. Cash btw or maybe cheque. if you paid by cc they had those card machines that you ran the slider over to produce a printed copy and counterfoil. You made friends in those queues and spoke on gig night.

Duran Duran 😍
Terence Trent D'Arby
Kylie Minogue
Wet Wet Wet
Deacon Blue
Hue and Cry
INXS
Sinead O'Conner (supporting INXS)

Good times!

Waves at @BettyUnderswoob @allabitmadtbf and any other Lourenzos/Hollywood Boulevard survivors 😂

..or the ballroom as it was in the 80's. Also the sticky floors of Gatsbys.

@allabitmadtbf The Ballroom! I forgot about that name, the only other name I could remember was Night Magic (aka Night Tragic).

This thread makes is very obvious I was born in the wrong era (90s baby)

I would love to go back in time to see these shows!

@DaisyMerollin quite a few of these bands are still touring, there's a huge demand for 80s bands now. Of course not all of them sound quite as good as in their heyday, but many are still well worth going to. In the past few years I've seen:

Billy Joel
Fleetwood Mac
Heart
Paul Young
Bonnie Tyler
Wet Wet Wet
Go West
Whitesnake
Belinda Carlisle
The Beat
Heaven 17
Squeeze
OMD
Slade (!)

Tradge! I was always faar too cool to go to Tradge!
It was only on a visit home from uni (around 1988) that I went once with friends. It had just changed its name to Hollywood Boulevard then. I was the only biker jacketed goth there. Felt like I had two heads!

should say that these acts were young (as we all were) and didnt have autotune/lip synching etc because it wasnt invented. no mobile phones (had to use a phone box). So if the act couldnt sing they got found out. now certain artists are using computer software to enhance their performance at your expense.

Status quo, def leppard twice. Also my parents got me tickets to see Gary glitter 😭

There just don't seem to be all these big bands and performers around any more, with fairly accessible gigs.
Interesting to see different opinions on the same acts!
And yes, @Pedallleur crap performers were very much outed straight away. I'm looking at you, Ian Astbury (The Cult)! He can't sing for toffee.

Lou Reed
Tom Waits
Iggy Pop
Bruce Springsteen
Neil Young
The Smiths
New Order
Leonard Cohen

They were the main ones, all good

and David Bowie and Queen

People on this thread who enjoy tribute bands and are in easy reach of London might like to know there's a double bill of The Illegal Eagles and Nearly Dan at the Indigo O2 on 30th August.

Motorhead (I was right at the front for that one, looking up Lemmy's nose!)
Hawkwind (several times)
Saxon (several times)
Jethro Tull at Manchester Apollo was probably my favourite
AC/DC at the NEC had a really impressive stage show

I can't recall it being so difficult to get tickets then, I often got them from the local record shop and when I went to Glastonbury in 1984, I got tickets for the coach and camping from the travel agent down the high street which did the coach trips. I better add Elvis Costello and The Smith's to my list.

The Stranglers were really bad? Can you enlarge on this as I'm a big fan of theirs?!

Lots of new acts out. My 14 year old is now coming out to cheaper shows by smaller acts. Beth McCarthy last week. Tickets from twickets that were reduced. I can't afford the 100s a night that a lot of you are prepared to pay. But somewhere in the smaller bands is the next Foo Fighters or Olivia Rodrigo